“town” buttons for the 12 major geographical areas that
hard to ensure that the site is optimized for those
he covers, knowing that someone who wants a home in
smaller screens.”
Madison or Chatham doesn’t want to waste time looking elsewhere for properties.
For De Fede, one web strategy that’s performed particularly well is the use of cookies. It works like
Click on New Providence, for example, and you get 33
this: all of the company’s sites includes a script that
relevant results, descending by price, and a full-sized photo
“follows visitors around,” and even if they haven’t
of each home’s exterior. “I did this because I was hearing
officially filled out a form or entered information in a
from consumers that they didn’t want to go through the
search field. “We deposit a cookie onto their browser,
motions of using the IDX setup to drill down and answer a lot
and then we follow them around and remind them
of questions,” says Slade. “I always keep the user experience
of our brand,” say De Fede. “That level of strategic
in mind when developing or revamping my site, so it made
branding has worked really well for us.”
sense to add the town buttons right on the front page.” De Fede, who estimates that 95 percent of his firm’s Slade, who says his goal is to “take my website to the
new business comes from online sources, says
next level every year,” says agents who are struggling with
he’s always honing and perfecting his websites to
information overload online should simply put themselves
make sure they’re truly meeting customers’ needs.
in their buyers’ shoes. Ask yourself: What would I want to
“It’s really a foundation for our office and for my
see on the front page? How would I want to interact with
brokerage as a whole,” says De Fede. “We put a lot
the site and its various elements? What would I not care
into it.”
much about if I were to do my own home search? Do I get an idea of who this agent is and the role that they can play
Getting to What’s Relevant and Useful
in the buying or selling process? A former brand manager,
To agents looking for help with their own site-
Slade says the final question should play a particularly
decluttering projects, Courter says her first step was
significant role online, where agents have to not only clear
to “remove as much ridiculousness from the front
their own clutter, but also stand out from the rest of it. “Ask
page as possible.” By taking this housecleaning-like
yourself why they should work with you versus someone
approach to the process, she says she was able to
else,” says Slade, “then use the answers to create an online
focus on what was most important to visitors and
experience that truly reflects your business, values, and
then put those elements front and center on the
mission.”
main page.
Cookies, Anyone?
“No one really cares about anything else but finding
During the 15 years that he’s been in real estate, Matt
a home. Plain and simple,” says Courter. “If you
De Fede, broker-owner at Realty Executives Elite Homes
have too much content on there, and if you want
in Nutley, has had a number of different websites. Today,
customers to be able to get to what they want with
he says his team focuses on using content to draw in
just a click or two, you really have to cull through the
viewers and create a dialogue with them.
content and center on what’s relevant and useful.” ■
To achieve this goal, he says every piece of content on the site was designed to be contextually-relevant for the company’s audience. He tries to avoid large graphics and other elements that would create long download times, particularly for mobile users. “Nearly all of our customers are using mobile phones to search for homes,” says De Fede, “so we’ve worked
Bridget McCrea is a Florida-based freelance writer who covers business and real estate topics for several magazines and newsletters. She can be reached at bridgetmccrea@gmail.com.
NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | MAY 2016 | 15